I'm always veganizing recipes that I love...so...I'm working my way
through all of the amazing recipes in Julia Child's
Mastering the Art of French Cooking...
...making a Vegan Version of each one...... sometimes successfully - sometimes not...Recipe Count 518/524 (from Julie's count)...but really 629

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

VEGAN BAVAROIS À L’ORANGE

[Vegan Orange Bavarian Cream — a cold desert]

....Julia says this about this Bavarois..." When properly made, it has a most lovely, light, creamy, velvety quality and ranks as one of the best of the molded desserts."...and I have to say that it did indeed turn out lovely, light, creamy, and velvety...
...you're supposed to begin by rubbing some sugar cubes on the outside of an orange to infuse the cubes with the organce oil...but I didn't have an orange...so I used the Cuties that I did have...I only ate the last orange yesterday...don't know what I was thinking...
...and then you crush up the oily cubes...
...then you squeeze the orange (or Cutie) juice...
...then sprinkle some vegan gelatin...we used agar agar powder over the juice...
...meanwhile...I got the aqua faba whipping...
...it takes a few minutes...
...absolutely amazing every single time...and I'll be using it for both the whipped vegan egg whites and the whipped cream...
...then you make a vegan custard...
...sugar, cornstarch, vegan egg yolks...I'm using my homemade Just Egg...and vegan milk...scalding hot...
...then add your orange juice/agar agar mixture...and cook until the agar agar is cooked...usually a couple of minutes...
...then fold in the vegan aqua faba egg whites...they were whipped with a Tablespoon of sugar...then whip them again with some orange liqueur...which I didn't have but I did have orange extract...so I used just a couple of drops of that...just be careful as it's really strong...and that becomes the whipped cream portion...
...so fold that into the vegan custard too...
...the pour the Vegan Bararian Cream into a mold...I'm using my old Tupperware jello mold...
...Julia says to cover with oiled waxed paper...but I just used cling wrap...
...Julia says to chill 3-4 hours or overnight...so I left it overnight...and it was well set...and pulled away from the mold...
...so I put a small plate inside the mold to turn it over...
...and then slid it onto a larger plate...
...that was perfect...
...Julia says to serve surrounded by orange segments...I'm using Cutie segments...of course...
...but I did fill in the little heart on top with some more whipped aqua faba cream...
...and topped it with another orange segment...
...I think it's an adorable little dessert...
...it slices perfectly too...
...the sixties molded desserts were sights to behold...and this one is no different...so stinking cute...and also pretty delicious...

Substitutions

VEgan egg sub for the egg yolks...I used this Just Egg Copycat recipe... whipped aqua faba for both the egg whites and the whipped cream...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 596-598

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Vegan Fricadelles d’Agneau

[Vegan Lamb Patties]

Julia says..."Delicious “lamburgers” may be made using freshly ground...(Vegan) lamb...
...so I ground up some of the leftover Vegan lamb seitan in the food processor...

...using the same process as the VEGAN BIFTECK HACHÉ À LA LYONNAISE...
...mixed with some VWG...a small amount of nooch...and the herbs...
...formed it into patties...
...and fried in a bit of oil...
...served with roasted sweet potatoes and vegan coleslaw...
...they're perfect little vegan burgers...
...especially fancied up with the recommended sauce...

...consisting of : vegan beef bouillon
dry white wine
and softened vegan butter...
...and then they were really delicious...

Substitutions

leftover VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI ground up in the food processor


Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 348...
...and then the next day...we had the leftovers as proper burgers...also delicious that way...

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Vegan Farce aux Rognons

[Vegan Rice and Kidney Stuffing]

...so this is another one of Julia's stuffing recommendations for the VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI...I used the same recipe for the vegan Gigot...but instead of shaping like a gigot...I made it flat so I could roll it up around the stuffing...

...and since...as far as I know...I have never tasted a rognon...I searched the interwebs for what they're supposed to taste like...and I found this: marked by a robust, meaty flavor with a hint of earthiness. There’s a slight gamey undertone...
...I just processed some mushrooms (i.e., earthy) and some black walnuts (i.e., gamey)...and added some vegan beef flavored bouillon...so that's what I'm going with...I'm sure it will taste good as I like all of the components...
...then...as Julia almost always instructs us..."In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook the onions in butter for 4 to 5 minutes until tender but not browned."
...add some white rice...and vegan stock...(vegan beef flavored bouillon)
...add your vegan rognons...
...and your spices... rosemary, sage, or thyme...I used Rosemary and thyme...no sage...
...then I made the lamb seitan...same ingredients as the VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI...and let it rest...
...then instead of forming it into a gigot...I put it between two sheets of waxed paper...
...and rolled it out...
...and then for the 'initial' cooking...I put it on the Griddler so it would par-cook fairly quickly...I'm doing that because it's fairly thin and I want it to hold its shape when it's stuffed...
...it's not really 'done'...just lightly browned and 'hardened' a bit...
...so then I put it onto a piece of foil...
...added the rice and vegan kidney filling...
...and then just rolled it up...the long thin rectangle of seitan worked great for this...
...wrapped and twisted the foil...
...and tied everything up with string...seitan expands as it cooks...
...so here it is out of the oven...
...a perfect roast...
...sliced...and served with peas and a vegan buttermilk biscuit...
...it does make a pretty presentation...
...and it was pretty delicious...

Substitutions

VEGAN GIGOT DE PRÉ-SALÉ RÔTI
black walnuts and mushrooms for the rognons

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 332-333